President Moon Jae-in laughs with the heads of ruling and opposition parties in a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Wednesday. The attendants are, from left, Justice Party Chairwoman Lee Jeong-mi, Bareun Mirae Party Co-Chairman Yoo Seong-min, Democratic Party of Korea Chairwoman Choo Mi-ae, Moon, Liberty Korea Party Chairman Hong Joon-pyo and Party for Democracy and Peace Chairwoman Cho Bae-sook. / Yonhap

By Kim RahnPresident Moon Jae-in said Wednesday that sanctions on North Korea would not be eased just because inter-Korean talks have been launched, adding there were no secret agreements with the North.He told this to heads of ruling and opposition parties at Cheong Wa Dae, a day after Moon's special envoys announced agreements with North Korea to hold an inter-Korean summit at Panmunjeom in late April. Visiting Pyongyang and meeting with Kim, the envoys also said North Korea was willing to have talks with Washington over denuclearization.The participants were ruling Democratic Party of Korea Chairwoman Choo Mi-ae, main opposition Liberty Korea Party Chairman Hong Joon-pyo, Bareun Mirae Party Co-Chairman Yoo Seong-min, Party for Democracy and Peace Chairwoman Cho Bae-sook, and Justice Party Chairwoman Lee Jeong-mi.National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong, who led Moon's envoys to Pyongyang, also attended the meeting to brief them.Moon said there would be no easing of sanctions or pressure on the North just because talks have begun, and South Korea alone cannot ease such sanctions, according to presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom."Amid strong international sanctions, inter-Korean talks are taking place and Washington-Pyongyang talks could take place afterward. If there is a practical improvement (of the issue), sanctions could be eased through international agreement," Kim quoted Moon as saying. "Easing pressure on our own is impossible. We don't have such an intention either."Moon also said there were no secret deals with North Korea and the two Koreas have not had secret contacts in other countries.The President said the final goal of the inter-Korean dialogue is denuclearization, not nuclear nonproliferation or a freeze. "But in reality, it would be difficult to achieve the final goal right away, so we may see several steps on the roadmap toward it," he said.He also stressed close cooperation with the U.S., saying a unified stance with the ally will make denuclearization talks possible.Moon said the government is also planning to establish a committee to prepare for the inter-Korean summit, which could be followed by various types of talks such as Red Cross and military discussions.The President said it was the North that selected Panmunjeom as the summit venue, while the South Korean envoys suggested Seoul, Pyongyang or Panmunjeom.As to the timing of the summit in late April, Hong said it would affect the South Korea-U.S. joint military excercises, which may resume in early April, and the June local elections. But Moon said his election pledge was to hold an inter-Korean summit within one year after his inauguration, and an April summit would have enough distance from the elections.Heads of conservative parties doubted North Korea's sincerity.Hong said the South and the international community have been deceived by the North for three decades _ after former President Kim Dae-jung's summit with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000, he said there would be no war on the Korean Peninsula, but the North continued nuclear development, and a similar situation happened after the 2007 summit between former President Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Jong-il, he noted."Pyongyang is holding inter-Korean talks by claiming peace," Hong said. "But if the upcoming summit helps North Korea buy time to complete its nuclear weapons, it will be miserable for South Koreans. I urge the President not to repeat the same mistakes." Yoo also said the South and the international community have to check, through promises and verifications, whether the North is putting on a show to buy time and avoid pressure and the military options by the U.S., or if it will really come toward denuclearization.